# Prostitution is sexual coercion by the male? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 8, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-is-sexual-coercion-by-the-male/751507 "2016-04-08T00:36:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-is-sexual-coercion-by-the-male/751507/61 "2016-04-09T01:09:51Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Nope. At least, it’s not a Judeo-Christian notion. Read the Old Testament. In the Mosaic laws, rape is considered essentially an act of theft against a woman’s father (if she’s a virgin) or husband (if she’s a wife). A rapist may well be punished by being forced to marry his victim; a married woman, raped in the city, is condemned for adultery and sentence to death, because the fact that the act happened in the city and was not discovered “proves” that she didn’t scream. (Even 10-year-old Skald, passionately believing in God and Jesus, saw that that was bullshit; what if the guy had a knife to her throat?) On their mythical conquest of Canaan, Hebrew soldiers are explictly allowed to rape captive women. Absalom, a son of David, gets treated as a bad guy for avenging his sister Tamar’s rape by their half-brother. I think we can give them some credit for moving on from those times. Certainly modern Christian teaching doesn’t condone that sort of attitude. (And don’t confuse them with their own book.) I do think that the same religious ideals that say that your virginity is a gift you give your husband, and all sexual activities should take place within the confines of the marriage bed - ideals heavily promoted by, if not exclusive to the major religions - have contributed to the attitude that rape is appreciably different and worse than other kinds of battery. I think that rape actually is, currently, worse than other kinds of battery, because we teach people it is. That means that there’s a psychological trauma that goes along with being “ruined” that we don’t attach to other battery crimes. I know my views may not be in the majority, but neither am I alone: I found I experienced more emotional trauma at the hands of very well meaning people telling me how broken I was, and at my own internalized belief that I was damaged goods, than I did from the actual experience of my rapes. Plus, of course, rape often has the added components of potential or actual pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted diseases to make it worse than other battery. No one ever got knocked up by being knocked out. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-is-sexual-coercion-by-the-male/751507/62 "2016-04-09T02:20:30Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > That’s really a simplification. Even when sex work is legal, there are often men involved in the background. Often husbands or boyfriends. Some long term, some that quickly turn out to care mostly about cash. Sure, legal brothels have managers which can be male or female and they usually have security (mostly male). But those people don’t really meet the definition of “pimp” which chronos was evoking, eg someone who protects his girls but also keeps them in line with threats of violence. Simply put there is nothing immoral about them earning a living off sex work, someone needs to do the staff roster, administration, accounting, pay the rent and electricity, and deal with inappropriate behaviour by clients and those people deserve to get paid. In countries where sex work is legal those people who work at legal brothels aren’t thought of as pimps, they’re managers and security, and the girls are free to leave and change jobs whenever they want. (yes we do still have illegal brothels in Australia which have much shadier practises, but this is my point, the problems come from the illegality, not from sex work itself) ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-is-sexual-coercion-by-the-male/751507/63 "2016-04-09T02:38:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve spent enough time with people who had no choice but to take low-skill physically demanding jobs that left them old men at 50, to think the above is bull. Lots of jobs that pay a lot less than prostitution beat the crap out of your body, and I don’t understand why it’s OK for a carpet installer to cripple himself to pay the mortgage, but not for someone to give a blowjob to accomplish the same. > > It’s really just prudish sensibilities. Legalize it, regulate it, and move on. yes. exactly. Objections to prostitution are all tied up in odd notions about how it’s “shameful” for women to have sex. Most of which seem to be revolve around ancient misunderstandings about how reproduction works. Rape is an entirely different issue and has nothing to do with a woman AGREEING to have sex in exchange for money, pleasure, or any other reason she might have. Where is the crime? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-is-sexual-coercion-by-the-male/751507/64 "2016-04-09T03:55:23Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > UDS, I would accept the term “philosophical” in place of “religious” if you insist, but the root of that philosophy, historically and culturally, is deeply religious, specifically the Abrahamaic religions\*. Well, of course, the contrary position (that prostitution should be fully legalised) is also based on philosophical notions about human dignity resting on equality, autonomy, etc. And I’m not sure whether to challenge the claim that one of these views of human dignity has deeply religions roots in religion in a way that the other does not, or just to point out that, if true, it’s irrelevant. There are lots of philosophical positions that are consistent with, and can be motivated by, religious beliefs. So what? They may be equally consistent with, and motivated by, non-religious beliefs. Indeed, on this very issue you’ll find people who are non-religious, and may be hostile to religion, holding the position that you identify as having a deeply religious root. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-is-sexual-coercion-by-the-male/751507/65 "2016-04-09T06:41:04Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Sure, legal brothels have managers which can be male or female and they usually have security (mostly male). But those people don’t really meet the definition of “pimp” which chronos was evoking, eg someone who protects his girls but also keeps them in line with threats of violence. Simply put there is nothing immoral about them earning a living off sex work, someone needs to do the staff roster, administration, accounting, pay the rent and electricity, and deal with inappropriate behaviour by clients and those people deserve to get paid. > > In countries where sex work is legal those people who work at legal brothels aren’t thought of as pimps, they’re managers and security, and the girls are free to leave and change jobs whenever they want. > > (yes we do still have illegal brothels in Australia which have much shadier practises, but this is my point, the problems come from the illegality, not from sex work itself) I’m not talking about the people working in the brothel, but the guy that picks the girl up after work. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-is-sexual-coercion-by-the-male/751507/66 "2016-04-09T06:50:01Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > I’m not talking about the people working in the brothel, but the guy that picks the girl up after work. Whats that got to do with sex work? Abusive boyfriends who live off their girlfriends can occur in any occupation. Are you claiming that somehow sex workers are more likely to be in abusive relationships than people in other types of work? Even in countries where it’s legal? Got any cites for this? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-is-sexual-coercion-by-the-male/751507/67 "2016-04-09T21:38:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Are you claiming that somehow sex workers are more likely to be in abusive relationships than people in other types of work? Even in countries where it’s legal? Got any cites for this? I believe they are more likely to be involved in abusive relationships, but that’s entirely due to the illegality of their work. If your pimp/boyfriend beats you up, and your work is illegal, you don’t have much recourse. If your work is legal, and your manager/boyfriend beats you up, you fire him and go to the police. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-is-sexual-coercion-by-the-male/751507.md?page=3)